On July 11, 1993, citizens of Des Moines, Iowa awoke to find that
they were in the wake of the worst natural disaster in the history of
the city -- a record flood that endangered their property and lives, and
no water to use for anything -- including human consumption, showers,
flushing stools, processing food or operating equipment.

Loss of public water supply

At 3:02 a.m., the Des Moines water production manager stood ankle
deep in the flooded plant control room, surrounded by 4,160 volts of
electricity. The plant's general manager, L.D. McMullen, said,
"get out of the plant and cut the power before you leave." The
manager flipped the main breaker, stopping the city's water supply
and plunging Des Moines into the national spotlight. Never in U.S.
history had a city so large been without water.

I was awakened at 5:00 a.m. that Sunday by a telephone call from the
county manager's office, informing me that levees had broken, the
water plant was shut down and we were facing a major crisis for 250,000
to 300,000 people in the metro area of the City of Des Moines.
Eventually, some 3,000 residents of Des Moines, Polk County and the
surrounding area were evacuated from their homes because of the flood
emergency. Most were able to find a temporary residence with relatives
or friends.

Creating a plan

Our first priority was to get safe, potable water to residents in the
affected areas. We set up a command headquarters at our offices, which
are located north of the city. Although we had no access to water, we
were in no danger of flooding conditions. Through the news media and by
contacting the Iowa Motor Truck Association, we started getting response
for trucks to haul water from surrounding communities that had safe
drinking water.

All management personnel for the county, city, the National Guard and
Red Cross were activated on that Sunday morning. Assignments were issued
to various agencies. The Central Iowa Inspections Environmental Health
Division had many responsibilities. We made sure the tanks transporting
water were sanitized and capable of hauling safe potable water.
Polyethylene tanks of 1,000 to 1,500 gallon size were acquired and
installed as distribution centers at parking lots of large grocery
stores and schools, to let the general public fill containers with safe
water for human consumption.

Within eight hours of the time the first call came in, we had 17
distribution sites in operation.

Protecting the water sites

Personnel were assigned 24 hours a day to each site, along with the
National Guard, to protect the water and maintain security at the
distribution sites. Although the water was tested for residual chlorine,
residents were advised to boil water for two minutes before drinking,
cooking, or brushing teeth. Bottled water companies and breweries from
several states sent plastic containers, beer cans and bottles filled
with water to most distribution sites. This sealed water was drinkable
without boiling, and its nitrate content was known to be safe for mixing
baby formulas.

Hospital water supply

Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPUs), priced at $780,000
each, were flown in by enormous C5A transport planes. National Guard
units from Alabama and other states accompanied the ROWPUs with orders
to supply water for Des Moines' seven hospitals.

ROWPUs were placed on both sides of the Des Moines River between
University and Grand Avenues. Several were placed at hospitals. Each
unit was capable of drawing 100 gallons of water per minute from the Des
Moines River. The raw river water was strained, filtered several times,
chlorinated and deposited into a 50,000 gallon bladder, the shape of a
gigantic water bed mattress. The purified water was then pumped into
tankers and transported to the hospitals. Mercy Hospital had a direct
water line from the fiver through a ROWPU to a fire hydrant to the
hospital's plumbing system.

Physicians and dentists affected

Most primary care physicians were able to continue seeing patients,
but at a reduced schedule during the emergency. For the most part,
physicians practicing surgical specialties utilized hospital emergency
departments, where sterile conditions could be more easily maintained.
Most dentists were not able to continue practice due to lack of
drinkable water for operating suction tips and other mechanical dental
instruments. Dental emergencies were seen in hospitals or at West Des
Moines dental offices, where water was available. A few dentists found
temporary office space with dentists outside the Des Moines area who
were on vacation at the time of the crisis.

Portable toilets

Another priority was to get portable toilets to each water
distribution site and to command headquarters and other vital and
essential operations. It was said that Des Moines could be called
"KYBO City," because one out of 100 KYBOs (a brand of portable
toilet) in the world was located here.

Proclamation

A state of emergency existed in the city of Des Moines, and the mayor
issued a proclamation ordering all non-essential businesses to cease
operation. The flooding of seven substations resulted in the loss of
electric power for much of downtown Des Moines. Portable generators were
brought in by the National Guard, Midwest Power and other companies.
Altogether, about one-third of the normal power was available for
operating affected hospitals, homes and businesses essential to the
flood control effort.

Animal and mosquito control

Wild animals were also flooded from their normal habitats. However,
no increase in bite injuries from rabies-carrying species was noted. A
slight increase in rat bites was reported, but no snake bites were
recorded. An increased number of dead raccoons and opossums were seen in
the streets.

The encephalitis surveillance system, consisting of sentinel chickens
and mosquito light traps, did not reveal any serological or virus
isolation evidence of the presence of encephalitis viruses at the time.
Mosquito larviciding of water standing after the flood receded, and
adulticiding in neighborhoods where complaints are registered, were
conducted throughout the county. Tetanus-diptheria boosters were
administered to some 20,000 flood victims and volunteers by private
physicians, hospital emergency departments and neighborhood clinics, as
well as by the Polk County Health Department.

Keeping the public informed

We started a daily routine of briefings, including key agencies such
as the city manager's office, county officials, the National Guard,
the Environmental Health division, and Red Cross. The briefings were
conducted twice daily, at 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., followed by a press
conference at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. This, as it turned out, was the
best thing we could have done to keep the general public informed as to
the situation at any given moment. Also, it was the best means of
letting food establishments know what we would recommend for them to
operate safely, depending on their situation.

In addition to the briefings and press conferences, I held a daily
staff meeting with all the environmental health specialists to plan what
needed to be checked each day. We checked approximately 1,500 food
service establishments the first week. Cooperation from the public was
excellent because they were kept informed. All agencies worked together
with absolutely no territorial restrictions.

We attended daily meetings at 2:00 p.m. with Christopher Atchison,
director of the State Health Department. These meetings also included
the expertise of Dr. Frank Young, Assistant Surgeon General of the
United States; Rear Admiral Pierson of the Uniformed Services; Dr.
Walter Dawgle, acting director for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; Ronald C. Biergen, Emergency Response Coordinator for the
CDC; and Kent Gray and Dr. Scott Lilleridge from the CDC. The
information we gained by brainstorming with this group was very
productive in our recovery from this crisis.

National news media

We were interviewed by every major television network, NBC's
Today program, CNN and various other stations, along with all local TV
and radio stations. We did not realize the scope of our situation for
some time after the crisis hit us. All businesses in the downtown area,
including six major hotels, were completely shutdown. A large number of
hotel rooms had toilets that had been used by patrons and could not be
flushed for 12 days. The loss of revenue was astronomical.

Restoration of the water supply

Water works plant manager McMullen worked closely with all the
agencies to keep us informed of the progress to get water reconnected
for fire protection and general use, and finally for the moratorium to
be lifted, enabling businesses to start a gradual recovery plan toward
normal operation.

On the twelfth day, water became available for flushing stools and
for bathing. Water was still a long way from being safe to drink, but
the nightmare of no water at all was over. We met with the hotels'
management and agreed to let them open on minimum conditions, once their
cooling towers were filled and they had received approval from the Fire
Marshall's office that fire protection was adequate. Other
requirements were that all food service was to operate with safe,
potable water, and food must be served with single service items only --
i.e., paper plates. They were to issue each newly registered guest a
container of safe potable water for drinking and brushing teeth. Also, a
sign stating "Don't drink the water" from the tap was to
be put in each bathroom.

The recovery process

As the flood waters receded, large pumps were flown in by National
Guard helicopters to pump water from inside the treatment plant. Water
treatment pumps were flown out for repair. The 850-mile distribution
system was recharged with treated water. Mains broken during the flood
were identified and repaired. Bacteriologic tests at fire hydrants
determined that water could now be restored to homes and businesses. On
July 18, public water was restored for fire protection, bathing and
sanitation in homes and businesses for some 80,000 customers at a time.
By nightfall, customers in all affected areas had tap water. Water
samples from 800 customer taps were tested several times during the next
week. On July 30, tap water was determined to be drinkable.

Recovery and appreciation for safe water

The city was on its way to a slow and painful recovery. No one could
estimate the physical or economic damage that occurred. Each day we were
amazed at discovering damage that had been unknown for some time, and at
how some people had to cope with their situations. We are back to normal
operation now, but it will be a long time before we see the full impact
of the disaster that affected many citizens in the state of Iowa beside
the 300,000 in the metro area of the City of Des Moines.

The crises that developed because of the water plant shutting down
have dramatically proven to Des Moines' residents just how
important is water in our everyday lives, and that our very existence
depends on maintaining safe water for human consumption.

NEHA is involved...

As we reported in the October issue of the Journal, Registered
Environmental Health Specialists/Registered Sanitarians were invited to
lend their expertise to helping the flood victims in Iowa. Working with
the International Association of Milk, Food and Environmental
Sanitarians, a mailing was conducted to this professional group in late
August. The mailing served to officially notify environmental health
professionals that their assistance with the myriad of aftermath
environmental issues ranging from water supply to vector control would
be appreciated.

Arrangements were worked out with the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) to financially assist with this operation. As such, for
any professional (an their employers) who could not contribute on their
own, compensation was available.

NEHA was proud to be of service in this matter. We thank IAMFES for
asking for our involvement. And we especially thank all of those who
accepted our invitation to restore a healthful environment to the many
areas devastated by the flooding.